The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development

News and Upcoming Events

Education Reform in Post-Confederation Newfoundland and Labrador: Politics and Lessons
View the video of the session
Memorial University’s Faculty of Education and the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development hosted a public session examining how the educational system of the province has evolved since Confederation – and what lessons this holds for the future.

Small Country, Big Results: The Case of Iceland
View the video of the session
Iceland tops the charts in most global comparisons: the UN's Human Development Index, Transparency International's index of corruption (where it was rated the least corrupt nation), the Heritage Foundation's Global Economic Freedom Index, and many others. In the 2008 John Kenneth Galbraith Lecture in Public Policy, Mr. Geir Haarde, Prime Minister of Iceland, explains how the country reached this enviable status.

Harris Centre featured in University Affairs magazine
The Harris Centre's outreach activities are featured as a front-page article in University Affairs magazine, the prestigious publication aimed at Canada's university community.

Read the Harris Centre's latest E-Newsletter!

Regional Workshop with the Central Labrador Economic Development Board (Zone 3), May 13-14 in Happy Valley-Goose Bay
Memorial University faculty, staff and students will be meeting with local leaders and stakeholders of Central Labrador at a day-long workshop, in order to identify new opportunities for social and economic development.

Regional Workshop with the Schooner Regional Development Corporation (Zone 16), May 22-23 in Marystown.
Memorial University faculty, staff and students will be meeting with local leaders and stakeholders of the Burin Peninsula at a day-long workshop, in order to identify new opportunities for social and economic development.

2008 CRRF-NRRN Conference
18-21 June 2008 - Inuvik, NWT
The 2008 Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF) and the National Rural Research Network (NRRN) annual policy conference will be held in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, 18-21 June 2008. The 2008 Conference will overlap with Canada 's National Aboriginal Day (June 21) and the summer solstice festivities in Inuvik . During the conference, the sun will not set!

Knowledge in Motion '08
St. John's, October 16-18, 2008
This international conference will examine the role of higher education institutions in regional development as well as share techniques, processes and best practices in knowledge mobilization for linking research, teaching and outreach with communities, businesses, governments and non-governmental organizations.

Post-Confederation Educational Reform: From Rhetoric to Reality
This major conference, scheduled for May 7-9, 2008, is co-sponsored by the Harris Centre and the Faculty of Education.